WASHINGTON (AP) —
National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden said his "mission's already
accomplished" after leaking NSA secrets that have caused a reassessment of
U.S. surveillance policies.
Snowden told The
Washington Post in an interview published online Monday night that he was
satisfied because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government's
collection of bulk Internet and phone records, an activity that has grown
dramatically in the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"For me, in terms
of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished," he said.
"I already won."
"As soon as the
journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was
validated," Snowden told the Post. "Because, remember, I didn't want
to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change
itself."
President Barack Obama
hinted Friday that he would consider some changes to NSA's bulk collection of
Americans' phone records to address the public's concern about privacy. His
comments came in a week in which a federal judge declared the NSA's collection
program probably was unconstitutional. A presidential advisory panel has
suggested 46 changes to NSA operations.
Snowden was interviewed
in Moscow over two days by Post reporter Barton Gellman, who has received
numerous leaks from Snowden. The interview was conducted six months after
Snowden's revelations first appeared in the Post and Britain's Guardian
newspaper.
Gellman described
Snowden as relaxed and animated over two days of nearly unbroken conversation,
fueled by burgers, pasta, ice cream and Russian pastry.
In June, the Justice
Department unsealed a criminal complaint charging Snowden, a former NSA
contractor, with espionage and felony theft of government property. Russia
granted him temporary asylum five months ago.
The effects of Snowden's
revelations have been evident in the courts, Congress, Silicon Valley and
capitals around the world, where even U.S. allies have reacted angrily to
reports of U.S. monitoring of their leaders' cellphone calls. Brazil and
members of the European Union are considering ways to better protect their data
and U.S. technology companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are looking
at ways to block the collection of data by the government.
Snowden, now 30, said he
is not being disloyal to the U.S. or to his former employer.
"I am not trying to
bring down the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA," he said. "I am
still working for the NSA right now. They are the only ones who don't realize
it."
Asked about the Snowden
interview, White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: "Mr. Snowden faces
felony charges here in the United States and should be returned to the U.S. as
soon as possible, where he will be afforded due process and all the protections
of our criminal justice system."
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